Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Ok...this idea came from 5 Minutes for Mom and it is right up my alley. Janice writes :This is raw, blogging vulnerability.Some publish intimate details about their personal lives on the internet – but I am going to do something far more terrifying to me. I am going to photograph and publish the very corners, closets and piles of clutter and chaos in my house that I am most ashamed of – the very places I work so hard for no one to ever see.Why? – Because I need some blogging incentive to get back in control of my house. And because I want to celebrate together the little steps of victory as other Tackle It Tuesday participants and I tackle each project, one by one.Remember this post I did a little while ago? Shan of Tales from the Fairy Blogmothersaid I was brave to share my mess (thanks Shan!)- so, here I go again. And, this time it's even worse. The Laundry Pile!!!(I can't even believe I'm sharing this photo! If you came over to my house I probably wouldn't let you use the downstairs bathroom for fear you may peak in there and see it and now I'm posting a pic. of it on the internet!! Ahhh...half heart-attack inducing/half cathartic).

The problem with the laundry pile is that I am the only one who ever tries to make a dent in it, but there are 4 people in this house who contribute to it. And, two of those 4 people are little girls who just have to change their outfits about 10 times a day each and then, if I'm not watching them like a hawk, they will hide their old outfits under beds, under dressers, behind bins in the toy-room...anything but put them back in their dressers. By the time I find everything I can't tell what is clean and what is dirty anymore and I just get exasperated and throw it all in the laundry.

Then there is the problem of the "stuff left in the washer". This is a chronic condition over here for which I really have no one to blame but myself. I will get on a roll and do, say, 4 loads of laundry in a day...but by the end of the day I still have one load that needs to go in the dryer and I'll get tired, go to bed, and have forgotten all about it. The next day I'll be busy with something else and I will continue to forget all about it. Somewhere around day 3 (or 5 if this has occurred over the weekend and I'm at work) I'll remember the tangled mass of wet clothes that are turning into a rotten pile of stink in the old Kenmore and -OMG- what a nightmare that is! You can't just rewash the clothes: that will not get the stink out. I've discovered this after putting on many an icky, stale smelling, shirt that had to be tossed back into the hamper. What you have to do now is dry the whole mass of stinky clothes and then rewash them all. I know, I know. This is a complete and total waste of time, money, water, electricity. Just completely terrible in so many ways (I am really sorry and I will not let this happen again. I promise this right here. Right now).

So...this is my Tackle it Tuesday project: I'm going to get the upper hand on the laundry pile, the laundry situation, and the dreaded "washer full of stinky wet clothes". I am giving myself one week to get this accomplished and I will publish my results next Tuesday (along with my new project). Wish me luck...I'm gonna' need it.

7 comments:

good luck! My tackle it Tuesday will be trying to regain some useable space in my kitchen cupboards!! I have miles of cupboards, which over the years have turned into storage places IN MY KITCHEN. My wonderful neighbor is starting an organizational business and is doing my house for free to build her portfolio and tonight will be day #3 of the process...

Good luck with the laundry. That should be my other tackle it tuesday chore. I have three clean/dry loads waiting to be folded/put away...

You know that most of us are in this boat. I have had friends come over and say wow your house looks great and I have two things to say. One is your company and I cleaned for you. Two come to my garage. If you have kids it's hard not to have all that. If you don't then how do you spend time with your kids is my question?Debbie aka The Real World Martha(S)http://realworldmartha.wordpress.com

ACK! Mount Washmore - we are far too intimately acquainted, I am afraid to say. We are a family of 5, 3 of whom are very dirty boys. We probably have more clothes than we should, too. (I have a hard time getting rid of things) All this adds up to a laundry nightmare. My solution is usually to close the door on it. LOL

Good Luck to you! You've motivated me to get up and tackle the beast behind the laundry room door.

Good luck with your laundry! I can relate - my problem is my spare room is piled high with clean clothes that need to be ironed, hung or folded. It does my head in as the pile just keeps getting bigger! :)

Aww laundry, the bane of every mother's existence. I have only just recently (in the last month or so) figured out a laundry routine that works for us. I'm still adjusting to it, but when it works, it's great. You may have noticed the two baskets of clean unfolded laundry on top of the washer tonight, so this week obviously wasn't a week that worked. And I have nobody but myself to blame for that one:)

Tackle it Tuesday is a great idea, but I'm already booked up Tuesday so I'll have to live vicariously through you.

A Bit About Me

I'm a mom to 3 great little girls, a wife, a runner, a veterinary technician (animal nurse), and a photographer. I love my iPhone. I'm a horrible blogger. I think Pink Newtons are the best thing since sliced bread. I am sensitive to gluten. I have really big teeth. I miss coffee.